ACSL CTO Dr. Chris Raabe introduces ACSL-PF1 at Drone Fund’s press conference back in August. Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Japanese drone startup Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory, ACSL for short, announced on Friday that its IPO application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has been approved. The company will be listed on the TSE Mothers Market on December 21. Mizuho Securities will lead the underwriting.
Founded by a former professor at Chiba University, Dr. Kenzo Nonami (who is now ACSL CEO), back in November of 2013, the company has been developing drones for industry use leveraging proprietary flying object control technology from his research and development over the years. Their flagship products include the ACSL-PF1 industrial drone platform introduced back in 2016 as well as the PF1-Vision non-GPS drone platform introduced back in 2017.
According to the consolidated statement as of March of 2018, they posted a revenue of 370.2 million yen (about $3.3 million) with an ordinary loss of 454.2 million yen ($4.0 million) and a net loss of 460.4 million yen ($4.1 million). Led by UTEC (The University of Tokyo Edge Capital, 19.93%), its major share holders include CEO Nonami (14.23%), Rakuten (TSE:4755, 12.81%) and Kikuchi Seisakusho (TSE:3444, 9.96%).
The video below (0m30s – 5m30s) contains a demonstration flight of ACSL-PF1 by the company’s CTO, Dr. Chris Raabe, at their investor Drone Fund’s press conference back in August.
This guest post is authored by Hiroko Mamoto, Public Retalations at Bangkok-based recruiting platform startup TalentEx. Some of our coverage about TalentEx can be found here and there. See the originl story in Jaapnese. In partnership with Omise and Abeja – two outstanding and rapidly-growing startups in Southeast Asia led by Japanese entrepreneurs, the Japanese embassy in Thailand recently hosted a conference called Digital Transformation Summit (DX Summit for short) at the headquarters of Thai top property developer Ananda Development. The conference is a part of “Open Innovation Columbus (OIC)” through which the Japanese government and Thai conglomerates encourage strategic alliances between innovative Japanese startups and the Thai conglomerates. Approximately 50 representatives from 30 Thai conglomerates participated in the first summit, along with 30 representatives from 30 major companies from Japan. In addition to government officials and media from both countries, Global Brain CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto and KK Fund General Partner Koichi Saito also participated. See also: Columbus charts course (Bangkok Post) Thailand, Japan join hands to develop local startups (Bangkok Post) เอกอัครราชทูตญี่ปุ่นประจำประเทศไทยสนับสนุน Start-up ญี่ปุ่น ลงทุนในไทย (Royal Thai Government) OIC was launched with the goal of developing successful Japanese startups around the world and to meet the demand for state-of-the-art…
Hiroko Mamoto
This guest post is authored by Hiroko Mamoto, Public Retalations at Bangkok-based recruiting platform startup TalentEx.
Some of our coverage about TalentEx can be found here and there.
The participants of the DX Summit. Japan’s Ambassador to Thailand Shiro Sadoshima stands in the center. Image credit: Hiroko Mamoto
In partnership with Omise and Abeja – two outstanding and rapidly-growing startups in Southeast Asia led by Japanese entrepreneurs, the Japanese embassy in Thailand recently hosted a conference called Digital Transformation Summit (DX Summit for short) at the headquarters of Thai top property developer Ananda Development. The conference is a part of “Open Innovation Columbus (OIC)” through which the Japanese government and Thai conglomerates encourage strategic alliances between innovative Japanese startups and the Thai conglomerates.
Approximately 50 representatives from 30 Thai conglomerates participated in the first summit, along with 30 representatives from 30 major companies from Japan. In addition to government officials and media from both countries, Global Brain CEO Yasuhiko Yurimoto and KK Fund General Partner Koichi Saito also participated.
OIC was launched with the goal of developing successful Japanese startups around the world and to meet the demand for state-of-the-art technology from the conglomerates lead by ASEAN. The Japanese government serves as mediator between the concerned parties, providing enriching support content such as matching and follow-ups, funds for expanding business in Thailand, and mentoring with Japanese entrepreneurs on the ground in Thailand.
Naoki Tonogi, CEO of Abeja Singapore Image credit: Hiroko Mamoto
The theme of this year’s DX Summit was AI (artificial intelligence) and blockchain, and one aim was to have designated knowledgeable persons assist the representatives from Thai conglomerates in gaining a deeper understanding of digital technology. Abeja Singapore Representative Naoki Tonogi and Omise Holdings CEO Jun Hasegawa served as speakers during the seminar.
Tonogi spoke passionately about technology up to present day that did not yet have AI, and how AI is innovative by answering the straightforward question, “What is AI?” He also introduced practical examples of AI provided by Abeja, and based on those, he discussed the future of AI technology and market considerations.
Jun Hasegawa, CE of Omise Holdings Image credit: Hiroko Mamoto
Hasegawa in turn used an explanation of products offered by Omise to showcase concrete examples of how blockchain can be used. His explanation included a basic outline, as well as the characteristics and merits of blockchain technology, and participants gains further understanding through question and answer time.
Japan’s Ambassador to Thailand, Shiro Sadoshima, imparted these words following the DX Summit.
I anticipate positive results through the cooperation of the decidedly flexible Thai companies and the technology and speed of Japanese startups.
Omise’s Hasegawa, who also serves as Chairman of the Japan-ASEAN Innovation Support Network (JAIS) [1] , related the following.
Just through breaching language barriers/ culture barriers/ market barriers, the methods of doing business can be improved. This is why, even as an entrepreneur myself who can understand the pain of doing business abroad, I’d like to continue to support events such as this which provide a space to connect with local companies.
Prior to the OIC, Sadoshima meets with Thai Prime Minister Kobsak Pootrakool to discuss cooperative relations
Prior to the OIC, Japanese Ambassador Sadoshima meets with Thai Prime Minister Kobsak Pootrakool to discuss cooperative relations. Image credit: Office of the Prime Minister, Thailand
Representatives from the Thai conglomerates also shared their positive impressions of the seminar.
Thanapong Na Ranong, First Senior Vice President of Kasikornbank / Managing Director of Kasikornbank’s investment arm Beacon Venture Capital, says,
I am very excited about this event and any future efforts. As the cultures of Japan and Thailand are very close, I expect good outcomes. After listening to today’s seminar, I’d like to try out the technologies with robots first.
Lena Ng, Chief Investment Officer at Amata Corporation, says,
We are developing a smart city in an industrial area, and there are many Japanese companies in the industrial area managed by our company. We believe we can use AI and blockchain technology to develop smart business in our industrial area, and this is why we’d like to incorporate it.
OIC plans to hold pitch events and arrange matching opportunities for Thai conglomerates and Japanese startups within the year.
Translated by Amanda Imasaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
There are separate organizations for each country under JAIS: JTIS (Japan-Thailand), JMIS (Japan-Malaysia), JVIS (Japan-Vietnam), JIIS (Japan-Indonesia), JPIS (Japan-Philippines), JSIS (Japan-Singapore). For more information on the initiations of the first organization, JTIS, please see here. ↩
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Readyfor, the Japanese startup behind a crowdfunding site of the same name, has announced that it has raised 530 million yen (around $4.7M US) from Globis Capital Partners (GCP), Mistletoe, Yasuharu Ishikawa (President and CEO of Stripe International), and Fumiaki Koizumi (President and COO of Mercari). Together with this fundraising, the company appointed lawyer Atsuo Kusahara, who joined Readyfor back in July, as Chief Legal Officer (CLO), GCP’s Minoru Imano as an Outside Director, and Ishikawa, Koizumi, Mistletoe’s Taizo Son, and University of Tokyo Assistant Professor Yutaka Matsuo as Advisors. Furthermore, with the goal of strengthening Readyfor’s brand, the company appointed Dentsu’s Executive Creative Director/Creative Technologist Kaoru Sugano as Creative Advisor. The crowdfunding site began services in March of 2011, when Haruka Mera started it as one of University of Tokyo-spinoff startup Ohma’s businesses. In July of 2014 Mera became the CEO and took over the site from Ohma, establishing Readyfor as its own new business. The company is perceived as a prominent figure in the startup world, but this is the first time it has raised funds through equity financing. Readyfor has grown its business to the current secure state because it…
Back row, from left: Ayako Yamamoto (GCP), Kaoru Sugano, Fumiaki Koizumi, Yasuharu Ishikawa, Yutaka Matsuo, Kentaro Watanabe (Mistletoe) Front row, from left: Minoru Imano (GCP), Uryo Motoda (Readyfor), Haruka Mera (Readyfor), Naoki Hiura (Readyfor), Atsuo Kusahara (Readyfor) Image credit: Readyfor
Tokyo-based Readyfor, the Japanese startup behind a crowdfunding site of the same name, has announced that it has raised 530 million yen (around $4.7M US) from Globis Capital Partners (GCP), Mistletoe, Yasuharu Ishikawa (President and CEO of Stripe International), and Fumiaki Koizumi (President and COO of Mercari).
Together with this fundraising, the company appointed lawyer Atsuo Kusahara, who joined Readyfor back in July, as Chief Legal Officer (CLO), GCP’s Minoru Imano as an Outside Director, and Ishikawa, Koizumi, Mistletoe’s Taizo Son, and University of Tokyo Assistant Professor Yutaka Matsuo as Advisors. Furthermore, with the goal of strengthening Readyfor’s brand, the company appointed Dentsu’s Executive Creative Director/Creative Technologist Kaoru Sugano as Creative Advisor.
The crowdfunding site began services in March of 2011, when Haruka Mera started it as one of University of Tokyo-spinoff startup Ohma’s businesses. In July of 2014 Mera became the CEO and took over the site from Ohma, establishing Readyfor as its own new business. The company is perceived as a prominent figure in the startup world, but this is the first time it has raised funds through equity financing. Readyfor has grown its business to the current secure state because it has stuck to its vision of providing funds for projects that were not funded with existed methods.
Mera says,
When we started business in 2011, no one knew about crowdfunding. It wasn’t like we could just advertise and immediately see growth. Of course, there were ways to get funding at the beginning stages of a business, but it may have resulted in the business changing its form (to pursue profit). I’ve been devoted to verifying models and then growing them.
Image credit: Readyfor
The company passed five terms without raising funds, and is continuing business as usual in the black thanks to soaring sales. The funds raised at this time was probably due to ripe opportunites. Readyfor has major plans planned for these funds, 3 plans specifically.
One is the development of SaaS (Software as a Service) for fan relation management. Often raising funds through crowdfunding sees a lot of activity at the time the project launches, so this plan would be an attempt at supplying the project owner with continuous financing. The company is looking to form a community where money can be gathered into projects for self-actualization by creating a means to connect project owners and backers.
The second plan is to strengthen the local partnership program. Readyfor, which offers government crowdfunding services that can be used as donations in hometowns under tax payment system, hopes to increase cooperation with local companies and promote the use of crowdfunding throughout Japan. In rural areas, as the demand for fostering social infrastructure and community becomes more pronounced, there is also a move to reduce local tax refund and returns. Readyfor appears to be trying to supplement this in a new way driven by the private sector.
The third and final plan is to expand the support system for companies that provide the means to meet SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Readyfor has collaborated with the Asahi Group, J-COM, Panasonic, etc. and has developed the “Matching Gift Program,” which provides money to social projects together with CSR (corporate social resposibility) support from businesses. In recent years, requests from companies that are required to contribute to SDGs are increasing, so Readyfor will launch the “Social Impact Division” in response.
Readyfor currently has around 80 employees, but as the company establishes business models and puts the foundations for growth in place, it will concentrate on securing personnel who can sympathize with its vision for expanding business.
The Readyfor Team Image credit: Readyfor
Translated by Amanda Imasaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced on Friday that it has agreed to be acquired by Japanese photocopier giant Ricoh (TSE:7752). The acquisition price is not disclosed but Nikkei estimated it to be tens of million US dollars in their report. Ricoh is scheduled to complete acquiring all MakeLeaps shares on November 30. As far as has been disclosed, MakeLeaps raised several million US dollars from Rakuten Ventures in a series A round back in July of 2016, an undisclosed sum from Kima Ventures (a seed startup-focused fund led by renowned French entrepreneur Xavier Niel) in a seed round back in September of 2014, plus $600,000 from AngelList, Dave McClure and other investors in an angel round back in August of 2014. See also: Cloud-based invoicing startup MakeLeaps wins IE-KMD Venture Day in Tokyo Since its launch in October 2011 by Australian serial entrepreneur Jay (Jason) Winder, MakeLeaps has been offering an invoicing platform that targets freelancers as well as small/medium-sized enterprises. Their users can simplify and streamline their process of issuing estimates, purchase orders, bills, receipts, etc. in addition to even mailing all these to…
Tokyo-based MakeLeaps, the startup behind a cloud-based invoicing platform under the same name, announced on Friday that it has agreed to be acquired by Japanese photocopier giant Ricoh (TSE:7752). The acquisition price is not disclosed but Nikkei estimated it to be tens of million US dollars in their report. Ricoh is scheduled to complete acquiring all MakeLeaps shares on November 30.
As far as has been disclosed, MakeLeaps raised several million US dollars from Rakuten Ventures in a series A round back in July of 2016, an undisclosed sum from Kima Ventures (a seed startup-focused fund led by renowned French entrepreneur Xavier Niel) in a seed round back in September of 2014, plus $600,000 from AngelList, Dave McClure and other investors in an angel round back in August of 2014.
MakeLeaps CEO Jay Winder delivers his pitch at B Dash Camp 2015 Spring in Fukuoka. Image credit: Masaru Ikeda
Since its launch in October 2011 by Australian serial entrepreneur Jay (Jason) Winder, MakeLeaps has been offering an invoicing platform that targets freelancers as well as small/medium-sized enterprises. Their users can simplify and streamline their process of issuing estimates, purchase orders, bills, receipts, etc. in addition to even mailing all these to their clients.
According to Ricoh’s announcement, the company expects to integrate MakeLeaps solutions to its photocopiers and multi-functional printing machines while adding on to various third-party systems for customer management, accounting and sales management, aiming to transform into a B2B platform operator by helping enterprises digitalize their workflows. MakeLeaps CEO Winder says in his statement that there will be no change in service offerings and terms of delivery even after the acquisition.
Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy
See the original story in Japanese. Digital Garage hosted the Demo Day for its Open Network Lab acceleration program earlier this month. The program celebrated its 17th batch and has supported 97 companies so far, with 60% of these successfully raising funds. This year 90 companies applied, and it appears female entrepreneurs, medical services, and inbound travel have become the prominent trends. Recruitment for the 18th batch began on October 9th. Six companies that received support such as mentoring over three months beginning in July took the stage to to share their results. After review, the medicine management platform 9lione (pronounced Kulione) was awarded the Best Team and Audience prizes, while the mental health support app KibunLog secured the Special Award. (Below is an introduction to each companies’ pitch.) Best Team & Audience Awards winner: 9lione Medical facilities using medicines experience the problem of having to discard medicine due to incorrect orders and other reasons. The total amount lost due to discarded medicine is 770 billion yen (nearly $6.9 billion US; estimated to be 10% of the total cost of medicine), which brings the loss per institution to 5 million yen (about $45K US) per year or roughly equivalent to…
Award winners and other graduating teams from the 17th Batch Image credit: Takeshi Hirano
Digital Garage hosted the Demo Day for its Open Network Lab acceleration program earlier this month. The program celebrated its 17th batch and has supported 97 companies so far, with 60% of these successfully raising funds. This year 90 companies applied, and it appears female entrepreneurs, medical services, and inbound travel have become the prominent trends. Recruitment for the 18th batch began on October 9th.
Six companies that received support such as mentoring over three months beginning in July took the stage to to share their results. After review, the medicine management platform 9lione (pronounced Kulione) was awarded the Best Team and Audience prizes, while the mental health support app KibunLog secured the Special Award. (Below is an introduction to each companies’ pitch.)
Best Team & Audience Awards winner: 9lione
9lione
Medical facilities using medicines experience the problem of having to discard medicine due to incorrect orders and other reasons. The total amount lost due to discarded medicine is 770 billion yen (nearly $6.9 billion US; estimated to be 10% of the total cost of medicine), which brings the loss per institution to 5 million yen (about $45K US) per year or roughly equivalent to the operating profits of a privately run hospital.
The cause of the problem is simple: information management is still largely done with general-purpose tools such as handwriting and Excel. It is this point that “9lione honed in on.
The company uses a SaaS model to make pharmaceutical management more efficient. It is equipped to read prescriptions using OCR (optical character recognition), can manage the medicine per capsule, and has a function that can keep track of expiration dates using the barcodes of the medicine. Some healthcare providers saw a loss improvement of 75% after introducing the beta version because it is able to manage and propose the optimal order quantity based on consumption data.
The company’s traction is also on the up and up, with 91 companies submitting advance applications in two weeks. The business model is based on monthly subscriptions, with 150,000 medical institutions apart from pharmacies as potential customers. In the future, the company’s aim is to become a buying/selling platform like Amazon which utilizes inventory data.
Special Award winner: KibunLog
KibunLog
There are 300 million people suffering from depression worldwide, with 5 million of those in Japan alone. It is a difficult illness to cure with just medicine, and while treatment using psychotherapeutics based on “emotional records” is widely known, it is difficult for depression sufferers to accurately grasp and record their symptoms.
Kimamani’s KibunLog is a support app for improving users’ mental health and looks to solve this problem. Psychotherapy work can be carried out in the app itself, and emotions can be recorded and analyzed to make control easier.
The company has prepared an interface that can record situations accurately with the app, and the recorded emotions can be analyzed by easy-to-understand mood classifications. There is also a community function for interested users, and support for mental health improvement with psychotherapy. In terms of business, the company anticipates a community pricing model through sales of content to improve consumers’ health, an online salon, etc.
Giftpack
Giftpack is an on-demand gifting service that can deliver gifts from remote locations. The company is focusing particularly on gift giving experiences; for example, it offers the fun experience that involves local delivery people singing as they give the gift.
The company began the service after interviewing some 70,000 people, 70% of whom reported dissatisfaction with deliveries and experiences. Deliveries occur within three hours. The fee is 20%-30% and it aims to become the new gifting platform preferred by the millennial generation and as such has implemented a campaign in partnership with the 17 livestreaming app. The company is developing services in five countries, focusing mainly on Taiwan and San Francisco.
Everyplus
For care recipients at nursing facilities, more than half of the day is spent at leisure. Recreational activities are one way to use this time, but EveryPlus is focusing on the efficiency of this. It is necessary to improve satisfaction with recreational options amongst the elderly using nursing facilities, and while the budget for such places is between 10,000 and 500,000 yen (around $89-$4,445 US), it does not receive priority, so we end up with cases like the facility organizing a magic show for care recipients, who suffer from dementia, who cannot understand it.
Every Plus has partnered with companies, prepared a recreation package for singing karaoke at care facilities, and provides a matching service that takes into consideration the degree of care required and size of the facility. As a result, facility business hours can be reduced more than 700 hours a year, and the number of times the service has been implemented has increased to 3500.
Signature
Signature focuses on craft beer trends among the 30,000 brewing companies globally. Today, the craft beer market in Japan is attracting attention from all over the world because of the momentum exemplified by the 20% annual growth rate; however, it faces a roadblock in that just 2% succeed in expanding overseas. The reason lies in the alcohol licensing required by each country, and with businesses who possess licenses unwilling to take on inventory risks. Futhermore, when expanding to multiple countries, it is necessary to negotiate with each of them.
Signature is a marketplace that makes these inconvenient points more efficient. The company has eliminated inventory risks with an advance booking model, and has additionally removed the roadblock by offering liquor license bundles. The result is 70% of trial users repeatedly coming back. It is considering a D2C (direct-to-consumer) model in the future based on user data acquired by the company.
Mediction
Mediction allows “medical tourist” users to settle the procedures required for medical treatment in Japan online. It targets visitors in particular from China as they account for 70% of the 430,000 medical tourists that come to Japan for treatment purposes.
When a user uploads their clinical records to the service, it translates them and matches them with relevant medical providers. Additionally, the service introduces hospitals, seeks missing information, and prepares examination reports. Usually, with this treatment process it takes two months to produce a diagnosis. While it takes one month for the treatment, translation and other processes can be reduced from three weeks to two days, thereby improving efficiency.
The diagnosis plan will check if treatment in Japan is necessary and can be used for 150,000 yen (about $1,334 US). In the future, the company plans to provide treatment services to affluent people by accumulating the medical record data.
Translated by Amanda Imasaka Edited by Masaru Ikeda
See the original story in Japanese. Bangkok- and Tokyo-based Omise Holdings, providing the Omise online payment services as well as the OmiseGo (OMG) token economy-powered initiative, announced today it has raised an undisclosed sum in a series B++ round from Global Brain, 31 Ventures (the investment arm of Mitsui Fudosan), and Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV for short, the investment arm of Indonesia’s leading conglomerate). With the latest funding, Omise wants to deliver their financial infrastructure services under development to more people through strategic partnerships with the participating investors. Omise’s previous equity based funding was a series B+ round back in October of 2017. As far as disclosed, the company has raised more than $45 million US including $25 million US funding via ICO (initial coin offering) as well as equity financing. Omise has been in cooperation with Global Brain, especially in managing Ethereum Community Fund (ECF) and the Neutrino blockchain-focused co-working space network. 31 Ventures currently runs a $270 million fund named 31 Ventures Global Brain Growth I, jointly managed by Global Brain and Mitsui Fudosan. SMDV participated in a series B round back in July of 2016, and will play a significant role in marketing OmiseGO in…
From the left in the back row: Takashi Sano (Partner in charge of Blockchain, Global Brain), Yasuhiko Yurimoto (CEO, Global Brain), Jun Hasegawa (CEO / Founder, Omise Holdings), Takeshi Matsuoka (Executive Manager, Mitsui Fudosan) From the left in the front row: Shohei Ichimiya (Principal, Global Brain), Takeshi Kodama (Project Manager, Mitsui Fudosan), Masaharu Uno (Country Manager, Omise Japan) Image credit: Omise Holdings
Bangkok- and Tokyo-based Omise Holdings, providing the Omise online payment services as well as the OmiseGo (OMG) token economy-powered initiative, announced today it has raised an undisclosed sum in a series B++ round from Global Brain, 31 Ventures (the investment arm of Mitsui Fudosan), and Sinar Mas Digital Ventures (SMDV for short, the investment arm of Indonesia’s leading conglomerate).
With the latest funding, Omise wants to deliver their financial infrastructure services under development to more people through strategic partnerships with the participating investors.
Omise’s previous equity based funding was a series B+ round back in October of 2017. As far as disclosed, the company has raised more than $45 million US including $25 million US funding via ICO (initial coin offering) as well as equity financing.
Omise has been in cooperation with Global Brain, especially in managing Ethereum Community Fund (ECF) and the Neutrino blockchain-focused co-working space network. 31 Ventures currently runs a $270 million fund named 31 Ventures Global Brain Growth I, jointly managed by Global Brain and Mitsui Fudosan. SMDV participated in a series B round back in July of 2016, and will play a significant role in marketing OmiseGO in the Southeast Asian market. Omise is expected to launch within this year.
Masaru Ikeda
The Bridge
Takeshi Hirano
